Sermon for Sunday Morning

I'm hightlighting another sermon by Fred Martin of the Evangelical Free Church of Bemidji, MN again. It's called Preparing for a Long Struggle. As I mentioned earlier when I featured one of his sermon's, Fred Martin has been our pastor twice when we were taking sabbaticals. I chose this sermon for today because Pastor Fred mentions a couple of recent events here in Canada: the new hate propaganda law, and the British Columbia teacher who was suspended for writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper arguing that homosexuality is a condition that should be treated.

The sermon text is from Daniel 7, part of the prophetic section of Daniel. Pastor Fred reminds us that

There is a difference between the fulfillment of a prophecy and the meaning of a prophecy. Please remember that when you read the prophecies of the Bible.  Learn to distinguish between the major message of Bible prophecies and the minor tantalizing details of those prophecies...

The message that we find in Daniel is a message that we find in other prophetic portions of the Bible.  It is a message that God's people need to hear in every age.  God will be victorious, and God's people will be share in his victory.  But there may well be a long struggle before that time comes.  Don't be surprised by it.  Be prepared for a long struggle.

The events that are taking place here in our country, and in other places as well, may be part of the struggle we ought to be expecting. God is victorious in the end, but we need to prepare ourselves for whatever difficulties may lie ahead.

Daniel's prophecy suddenly becomes terribly relevant—not because we've figured out exactly who the beasts in the vision are.  No, it's relevant because God is saying to us today the same thing that he said to his people in Daniel's day.  Get ready!  Don't be surprised at what the future holds.  Be prepared for a long struggle.